Camping at Refugio

Hiking
Originally uploaded by V G.

This was the reason for my recent lapse in on-line blogging activity.
It was camping at Refugio near Santa Barbara. It was a nice trip and went by too fast. We stayed 3 nights. We met long time friends Shanna, Mark and Max from SC there. Max is one year older than our little guy. They had extreme amounts of fun playing in the dirt and sand. It was a great trip. I give it high marks as far as campsites go.
My only complaint is that it was very windy at night. We were warm in our sleeping bags, but the sound of wind ripping through at all hours of the night makes for a light sleep. That's when the RV lifestyle looks appealing. I still want to travel by RV one day...just for a week.
I know they are gas hogs, but maybe just a little RV. That doesn't make sense does it, a little RV? You know what I mean, just one that isn't the hugest beast out there but has all of the cool RV things.
Anyway, there is still something cool about just a tent too. We enjoyed it. I'm fine as long as I am warm and the sleeping air mattress has air, I'm good. Oh, and my morning coffee, then I'm set.

Growth

Growth
Originally uploaded by V G.

I love that flowers are emerging and budding.
We have a tiny (right now) Ginko Biloba tree in our backyard that we
planted about 4 months ago. We thought we killed it. All of the leaves had fallen off. It looked like a Charile Brown Christmas tree, but even worse without any green leaves. Happily, we discovered
these new buds emerging just last week. I was so excited. They are even bigger now. I'm still learning about
growing trees and plants. I think the most important thing still seems to be regular watering.
This is what I do in between everything else. It's feels very rewarding to see a tree or plant thrive.
I'm still slowly priming my art panels...so no photos of these yet. I did a coat of primer today.
I have enough layers on a couple of them now which means that I could start painting. Hmm? Soon...I can't wait. In terms of my art at this time in my life, I can really relate to this little Ginko Biloba tree.

Wood Panels.

Wood Panels.
Originally uploaded by V G.

This is a recent purchase. These are Mahogany and Birch panels to paint on. I love this surface to paint on.
I got them from a local panel and canvas maker (www.cksart.com).
Chris at CKS does an excellent job making these panels.
Little by little I am getting back to my art and it feels SO GOOD!
Tonight I even made it to an art reception at Bergamot Station for
a former teacher of mine, Tim Ebner. He's a painter.
He is showing at the Rosamund Felson gallery.
To be continued on the art panels...
This photo shows them lined up to get a coat of sealer.
I'm excited. I can wait to put a couple more coats on them and start painting-painting.